DBRS Morningstar Publishes Final Regulated Electric, Natural Gas, and Water Utilities Methodology

DBRS Morningstar finalized its “Rating Companies in the Regulated Electric, Natural Gas, and Water Utilities Industry.”

This methodology presents the criteria for which electric, gas, and water utility company ratings are assigned and/or monitored.

The methodology supersedes the prior version published on September 16, 2019, and is effective as of October 27, 2020.

The comment period ended on October 23, 2020, and no comments were received. Per the press release dated September 23, 2020, DBRS Morningstar is expanding the scope of the methodology to include certain utilities that are not regulated but effectively share many features with a regulated utility, such as operating as a natural monopoly, providing an essential service, and/or having strong market power (e.g., district energy). While DBRS Morningstar deems the change in scope as described above to be a material change from the prior version, DBRS Morningstar does not expect any ratings to change as a result of this update.

All comments received during the request for comment period have been published to the DBRS Morningstar website, except in cases where confidentiality is requested by the respondent.

Notes:
DBRS Morningstar methodologies are publicly available on its website www.dbrsmorningstar.com under Methodologies & Criteria.

For more information regarding rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357883.

For more information on this methodology or on this industry, visit www.dbrsmorningstar.com or contact us at [email protected].